Main Menu

Revisit the naming of district assemblies in Volta

We are all aware the creation of new districts fall within the cognisance of the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development and for that matter, the ministry prepares the bill to Parliament for it to be passed into law.

Yes, the creation of new districts is a way of bringing development to the doorsteps of people. In other words, it is a way of delegating central power to district assemblies called decentralisation. But having said this, I must say this also comes with its own problems, especially the naming of districts.

It is against this backdrop that I am writing to bring the attention of the Local Government and Rural Development Ministry to some discrepancies in the naming of districts in the Volta Region.

For instance, Akatsi North and South, Nkwanta North and South, Ho Municipal and Ho West. Unlike the three Tongu districts, the three Krachi districts, the two Ketu districts and the two Dayi districts which were all named after tribes and rivers respectively, the same cannot be said of others.

For instance, Ho is a name of a town but not a tribe so I find it difficult to understand why we should name a newly created district Ho West and the capital being Dzolokpuita; whilst we can equally name the district after the major tribes in the aforementioned district.

For example, Dzolo, Avatime, Kpedze district assembly. Or if possible, the various paramountcy's can come together to pick a common name for their district. Another one is Akatsi North and South. These are two different tribes, that is, Ave and Avenor and how can you give a town's name to another district knowing very well that they are two different tribes.

I suggest the Akatsi South whose capital is Ave-Dakpa should be renamed Ave District since the people are predominantly Ave.

Before the creation of the new district, the constituency was known as Avenor but after the Ave people challenged the status quo, the constituency was renamed. Ave and Avenor.

The EC paid heed to their plea and renamed the constituency Ave-Avenor. It consisted of two different tribes. Finally, the Nkwanta North and South. When the EC split the constituency into two in 2004 thereabouts, it was named Nkwanta North and the capital is Kpassa.

Later on, when the area was given a district, the name of the constituency was maintained and the capital remained Kpassa. Nkwanta is a named of a town and not a tribe so why would you impose a town's name on another district.

For me, it is not good because we have major towns such as Kpassa, Damanko, Sibi, Tinjase just to mention few that can be named after the district.

In the Central Region for instance, we named certain districts after major towns which is laudable. For example, Ajumako Enyan Esiam District, Asikuma Odoben Brakwa District, Komenda, Edina, Eguafo Abirem district are all good examples for us to learn from.

From the foregoing analysis, I want to crave the indulgence of the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development to address this issue so that the names of the aforementioned districts would not overshadow the various tribes that were discussed.